| UP 4005 has little time before its accident the next year. On April 27 1953, the unit took a bad switch at Red Desert at 50 mph, flipping the locomotive, and piling the first 18 cars of the 62 car train in a 70 heap. The tender was pushed into the cab of the flipped engine, killing the engineer and fireman, and crushing the brakeman. Escaping steam shot 100 feet into the air, preventing the nearby section gang from approaching the roiling engine. The brakeman would be extracted from his cramped position between a seat and the side of the cab after 10 hours, but would later succumb to his wounds. Four of the first 18 cars had been full of hogs, and most of these were killed on impact, although some did survive, and escaped into the Wyoming desert. After the wreck, the mangled Big Boy was stored in the yard in Cheyenne until it was rebuilt. Exact date unknown. Obtained from Union Pacific Steam: Big Boy Portraits (Bush, Ehernberger) |